The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for monitoring the operation of an industrial process. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for collecting and displaying status data concerning the industrial process.
The reliability and accuracy of an industrial process is usually controlled by an automation system. Industrial processes, such as paper manufacturing processes and power plant processes, are extremely extensive and complex, and they involve a plurality of variables, the monitoring of the process operations thus being considerably difficult. An automation system contains various programmed process-specific preconditions to operate and regulate the equipment in the process. The operation of an industrial process is usually monitored using a computer display that shows the status of the process in the form of different icons and numbers. However, if the process is even slightly complicated, it is difficult to monitor and evaluate the behaviour of the process on the basis of the status data. For understanding the status data, a separate textual instructions document is therefore needed which uses the names and identifiers of the devices involved to describe the cause-effect relationships relating to them. On the basis of the information on the process status displayed, the user retrieves the correct instructions document and, using process identifiers, s/he retrieves from the document the data illustrating the process status. On the basis of the current status of the process, s/he then interprets the instructions document. Prior art also knows a solution where the instructions document is stored in the database and the display showing the process status is provided with a link to the instructions document, thus enabling the group of cause-effect relationships relating to the equipment in question to be displayed. This solution is disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,745. A separate instructions document is, however, difficult and laborious to use, and the data has to be fetched separately. Furthermore, the information provided in the instructions document must be interpreted, which may lead to misinterpretations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,337 describes an automated diagnostics system for monitoring an industrial apparatus, such as a plasma etcher. In the system, the apparatus to be diagnosed is modelled into an expert system. The system is interactive in that it poses questions to the technician repairing the system, thus guiding him/her to run different tests for locating a fault. The purpose of the interactivity is to find an instruction for repairing the fault. The system is relatively difficult to use and it also requires a user skilled in an interactive functionality. Furthermore, the system is not suitable for monitoring the operation of an industrial process because due to the extent of the process and the resultant large number of variables, the modelling of the process into the expert system is in practice impossible.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,697 describes the use of an expert system for monitoring problem situations in a manufacturing process. The expert system of the described solution allows process statuses to be stored, the statuses being then classified by the users. In other words, the users store into the system the meaning of the different statuses, i.e., the type of fault that may be involved in a particular situation. The system thereafter continuously monitors the process and compares the statuses stored in the expert system with the current status and informs the users if a problem status emerges. This solution cannot be used for monitoring the operation of industrial processes either, because in practice it is not possible to model all process statuses of the operation of an industrial process into the expert system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,502 discloses a method for supporting the operation of an industrial plant, the method employing different knowledge-based databases. The knowledge databases contain stored normal values of process variables and the ranges of variation of the values as well as counter measures for different situations. The solution cannot be applied to monitor the operation of industrial processes because they are so complicated that all normal values of the process variables, the ranges of variation of the values, and the required measures cannot be modelled in the way required by the solution disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,502.
U.S. Pat No. 5,274,572 discloses a knowledge-based method for signal monitoring and analysis. The solution aims at producing a plain-language account of a disturbance, but also this system requires that the entire solution to be monitored is modelled. Therefore the solution of U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,572 is not suitable either for monitoring the operation of a complicated industrial process involving a plurality of variables.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an equipment with which the monitoring of an industrial operation is simple and easy.
The method of the invention is characterized in that the data in the group of cause-effect relationships is subjected to preconditions based on the process status data, the process status data comprising a plurality of data, each of which contains a precondition for a particular data in the group of cause-effect relationships, a document server searching the group of cause-effect relationships in phases for outputs defined as true, and the document server being used to produce a plain-language account of the process status on the basis of the outputs.
The equipment of the invention, in turn, is characterized in that the data in the group of cause-effect relationships is subjected to preconditions based on the status data; that the process status data comprises a plurality of data, each of which contains a precondition for a particular data in the group of cause-effect relationships; and that the equipment further comprises a document server for combining the process status data and the data in the group of cause-effect relationships, the document server being arranged to search the group of cause-effect relationships in phases for outputs defined as true and to produce a plain-language account of the process status.
An essential idea of the invention is that the document server collects process status data, compares the data with the group of cause-effect relationships, and produces a plain-language account of the situation. A preferred embodiment is based on the idea that the plain-language account is a dynamic document. A second preferred embodiment is based on the idea that the dynamic document is based on hypertext technology. A third preferred embodiment is based on the idea that the document server is a World Wide Web or general web server and that the user interface displaying the document is a web browser.
An advantage of the invention is that with the solution of the invention the monitoring of an industrial process is accurate, convenient and straightforward. Further, the current status of the process and the consequences of the status can be made rapidly and explicitly available for use to the operating staff. In addition, the user need not know all parts and devices of the process in detail, because he/she does not need to instruct the system to locate a fault or to store additional data into the system. The invention enables the user to retrieve a complete, up-to-date document when necessary, without the user having to create it.